President Biden Vows To Stay In The Race During Call With Campaign Staff - 'No One's Pushing Me Out'

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden met with campaign staff and members of the Democratic National Committee to calm the waters and put to rest any rumor that he would be stepping aside for another candidate to take over the top of the ticket. Following his disastrous debate performance on Thursday evening, the president has faced calls from high-profile members of the media, former Democrat officials, and elected congressmen, all of whom have suddenly realized that Biden's age is having an effect on him, to withdraw from the race and allow an open convention to take place in Chicago next month. With Vice President Kamala Harris by his side, Biden sent a clear message to those doubting him.

"The past few days have been tough. I'm sure you're getting a lot of calls...Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can — as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running. I'm the nominee of the Democratic Party. No one's pushing me out. I'm not leaving. I'm in this race to the end, and we're going to win," the president told those on the Zoom call, per POLITICO. 

Vice President Harris, who has repeatedly been floated to replace Biden on the ticket by Democrats in recent days, stood by the president and explained that the two of them would fight together to win re-election in November and defeat Donald Trump. "We will not back down," she said. "We will follow our president's lead. We will fight, and we will win."

The president also thanked his staff for sticking by him over the past few days of turmoil and outright anger towards the Biden camp for hiding the impact of the president's age on his day-to-day performance. "There is no one I'd rather be in this battle with than all of you," Biden told his staff. "So let's link arms. Let's get this done. You, me, the vice president. Together."

Biden's decision to stay in the race could hurt Democrats in the long run. Multiple polls taken after the debate have shown that Trump has increased his lead in both the swing states and nationally, which could drastically impact Democrat performance, which is lower on the ballot as they attempt to maintain control of the Senate and retake the House. A recent internal Democrat poll by the news site Puck found that Biden struggles in even historically Democrat-leaning states. The survey found that Trump enjoys a lead of 11 percent in North Carolina, 10 percent in Georgia, 10 percent in Arizona, nine percent in Nevada, seven percent in Pennsylvania, seven percent in Michigan, four percent in Wisconsin, three percent in New Hampshire, 0.6 percent in Virginia, and 0.5 percent in New Mexico.

President Biden appears to have doubled down on staying in the race, and his upcoming interview with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday will prove to be a major test to see if he can assure Democrat voters and elected officials that he is up to the challenge of taking on Trump in November.

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